To clean the feet, scald them. The toenails will twist off. The skin will peel off. All the gross stuff goes away.
Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!
- Thread starter Beekissed
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Quote:
Do you need a rooster because you want to breed or do you just not want to cull/rehome him? You don't need a rooster, although I admit, I always have one, it just seems natural and normal as far as the social flock behavior is concerned and I just happen to love old English game bantam Roos.my OEG banty roos can't breed my standard sized hens but he certainly thinks he can.
Do you have room for more hens? What kind do you like?
If buying chicks, I'd wait until spring if you live where the chicks can't go outside until feathered. I live in AZ and winter is a nice time for me to raise chicks.
This could be a good time of year for you to introduce mature hens. As far as breed, I don't see why any breed at or near the size of an Orpington wouldn't work. I think the main thing is that some hens are too passive and allow the rooster to mount them too much. I've found my more active breeds are less passive, although smaller so they may not be your best option, either. Obviously, if your rooster weighs 10 pounds ( not likely if hes a hatchery roo), he could be pretty rough on a little Sicilian Buttercup or Hamburg hen.Take a look at the breeds chart and compare temperaments, sizes, hardiness, etc. pick out a few breeds, then post any questions you have on the breeds section of BYC. Keep in mind, the less common breeds will be difficult to find, you may need to get eggs or chicks from a breeder or hatchery so that could change the whole timeline for you.
Have you considered getting rid of the rooster, maybe getting a less agressive and/or smaller rooster or just not having a rooster at all? Seems like that would be the least complicated route to go. You could put the rooster to freezer camp or put him on Craigs List.
Do you need a rooster because you want to breed or do you just not want to cull/rehome him? You don't need a rooster, although I admit, I always have one, it just seems natural and normal as far as the social flock behavior is concerned and I just happen to love old English game bantam Roos.my OEG banty roos can't breed my standard sized hens but he certainly thinks he can.
Do you have room for more hens? What kind do you like?
If buying chicks, I'd wait until spring if you live where the chicks can't go outside until feathered. I live in AZ and winter is a nice time for me to raise chicks.
This could be a good time of year for you to introduce mature hens. As far as breed, I don't see why any breed at or near the size of an Orpington wouldn't work. I think the main thing is that some hens are too passive and allow the rooster to mount them too much. I've found my more active breeds are less passive, although smaller so they may not be your best option, either. Obviously, if your rooster weighs 10 pounds ( not likely if hes a hatchery roo), he could be pretty rough on a little Sicilian Buttercup or Hamburg hen.Take a look at the breeds chart and compare temperaments, sizes, hardiness, etc. pick out a few breeds, then post any questions you have on the breeds section of BYC. Keep in mind, the less common breeds will be difficult to find, you may need to get eggs or chicks from a breeder or hatchery so that could change the whole timeline for you.
Have you considered getting rid of the rooster, maybe getting a less agressive and/or smaller rooster or just not having a rooster at all? Seems like that would be the least complicated route to go. You could put the rooster to freezer camp or put him on Craigs List.
slow down !!! you guys post faster than I can read..
when I raised cornishX a long time ago, I always ordered the pullets.. we freeze whole chickens, and the pullets fit into our bags better than the long legged roosters.. We freeranged them also and never had more than an occasional bow legged one..
feeding is a gut feeling thing.. occasionally measure out an amount that you know is more than they can eat.. let them go at it for about 20 minutes.. then measure what is left.. what is gone is how much you feed them from now on.. You have to consider that they are growing, or that you might add more to the flock, so the feed has to be adjusted accordingly.. I don't do it this way anymore.. I just feed them about what I figure they need, then go about doing the watering etc.. then I check to see if there is any feed left.. if not, and they are all scattered around the yard, I am done.. In the winter time , I don't mind if there is feed left over,
If I had to use tractors, I like what I read.. I forget who wrote it.. but spreading straw and throwing the feed in for them to find makes good sense to me. I might take that a bit farther and throw some sort of grass seed in there.. a lot of it would be overlooked by the chickens and then it would grow after you moved the tractor.. I wouldn't bother working the area with the tractor, then..
when moving a tractor, how do you avoid running the chickens over ? I have a dog kennel that I have drug around occasionally.
the chickens always run to the opposite end and then I can't drive forward.. My wife has to go in there and chase the chickens along.. Not very convenient for a one man operation..
we have never used feet before.. but I like the stock idea.. maybe next time we butcher ..
we have long since ran out of freezer space and I have about 15 too many guinea roosters .. we talked about canning them in jars. they make EXCELLANT soup.. I hatch and sell about 300 keets each year.. I am cullling and breeding to get an all white flock.. getting there, but not quite yet.. 4 years in the making..
why? just because..
I know there were more thoughts, but they escape me right now.. Oh yes, one more.. somebody mentioned that they were more tolerant of newbies and young people.. I think that is because the ones who check in here really want to learn, and they have been very polite to us OF's..
...........jiminwisc...... since 1966
when I raised cornishX a long time ago, I always ordered the pullets.. we freeze whole chickens, and the pullets fit into our bags better than the long legged roosters.. We freeranged them also and never had more than an occasional bow legged one..
feeding is a gut feeling thing.. occasionally measure out an amount that you know is more than they can eat.. let them go at it for about 20 minutes.. then measure what is left.. what is gone is how much you feed them from now on.. You have to consider that they are growing, or that you might add more to the flock, so the feed has to be adjusted accordingly.. I don't do it this way anymore.. I just feed them about what I figure they need, then go about doing the watering etc.. then I check to see if there is any feed left.. if not, and they are all scattered around the yard, I am done.. In the winter time , I don't mind if there is feed left over,
If I had to use tractors, I like what I read.. I forget who wrote it.. but spreading straw and throwing the feed in for them to find makes good sense to me. I might take that a bit farther and throw some sort of grass seed in there.. a lot of it would be overlooked by the chickens and then it would grow after you moved the tractor.. I wouldn't bother working the area with the tractor, then..
when moving a tractor, how do you avoid running the chickens over ? I have a dog kennel that I have drug around occasionally.
the chickens always run to the opposite end and then I can't drive forward.. My wife has to go in there and chase the chickens along.. Not very convenient for a one man operation..
we have never used feet before.. but I like the stock idea.. maybe next time we butcher ..
we have long since ran out of freezer space and I have about 15 too many guinea roosters .. we talked about canning them in jars. they make EXCELLANT soup.. I hatch and sell about 300 keets each year.. I am cullling and breeding to get an all white flock.. getting there, but not quite yet.. 4 years in the making..
why? just because..
I know there were more thoughts, but they escape me right now.. Oh yes, one more.. somebody mentioned that they were more tolerant of newbies and young people.. I think that is because the ones who check in here really want to learn, and they have been very polite to us OF's..
...........jiminwisc...... since 1966
Quote:
I have a friend who cans her own Tuna... Hubby is a Sea Captain (sport fishing). She puts it in Glass jars.... OH MY GAWD good..... Do you can chicken in glass as well? Do you de-bone? I am very interested in canning Guinea meat when I start processing.
Glass mason jars from ball or Kerr.
For instructions try NCHFP.com or get a Ball Blue Book or Ball Complete Book. You must pressure can meat and broth/stock. Some people can boneless, some do thighs with bones.
Either way, it's incredibly tender, great for sandwiches and enchiladas.
I love having a pantry full of stock. I use it for everything. I get 7 quarts from the feet, neck and carcass of one Cornish X. Considering a quart of organic, low-sodium stock at the grocery is now over $4.00 that makes my Cornish x pretty valuable. We eat so many meals off one of those monster chickens if I let them go until 10-12 weeks, too. Probably 4 meals plus tons of leftovers. We can eat off one chicken for a week!
A grocery store bird, maybe two to three meals?
Very good info... I am wanting to do a pantry when I get moved back home. I am currently driving 60 miles one way every two days to feed my animals... Long story. But I am currently living with my 95 year old grandmother and living between households. How long can I expect a jar of stock to last? In the pantry.... LOL. I am thinking of how much I consume vs how many birds to process per year. Just feeding myself and maybe a guest now and then. I expect Mom will move up with me eventually. I will be canning beef as well. And hopefully some fish....
I have a friend who cans her own Tuna... Hubby is a Sea Captain (sport fishing). She puts it in Glass jars.... OH MY GAWD good..... Do you can chicken in glass as well? Do you de-bone? I am very interested in canning Guinea meat when I start processing.
Glass mason jars from ball or Kerr.
For instructions try NCHFP.com or get a Ball Blue Book or Ball Complete Book. You must pressure can meat and broth/stock. Some people can boneless, some do thighs with bones.
Either way, it's incredibly tender, great for sandwiches and enchiladas.
I love having a pantry full of stock. I use it for everything. I get 7 quarts from the feet, neck and carcass of one Cornish X. Considering a quart of organic, low-sodium stock at the grocery is now over $4.00 that makes my Cornish x pretty valuable. We eat so many meals off one of those monster chickens if I let them go until 10-12 weeks, too. Probably 4 meals plus tons of leftovers. We can eat off one chicken for a week!
A grocery store bird, maybe two to three meals?
Very good info... I am wanting to do a pantry when I get moved back home. I am currently driving 60 miles one way every two days to feed my animals... Long story. But I am currently living with my 95 year old grandmother and living between households. How long can I expect a jar of stock to last? In the pantry.... LOL. I am thinking of how much I consume vs how many birds to process per year. Just feeding myself and maybe a guest now and then. I expect Mom will move up with me eventually. I will be canning beef as well. And hopefully some fish....
Quote:
Raising meaties is what I think seperates real chicken flock owners fron the 6 hen groupies. I try to raise 50-75 meaties a year but in the last 2 years I have just decided to raise more of my pure Cornish LF and butcher all the culls at a decent weight. When I was ordering meaties to raise for the freezer, it was important to have a plan that I could use over & over again yr after yr on the same stretch of pasture. We have very poor pasture here in SW Ok, a downside of the dust bowl of the 30's, so the grass is mainly clump & bermuda grass mixure that must be conditioned yearly to come back. This is really pretty simple after I am done for the year with raising all that I need I simply use my tractor to work in all of the leftover material that was generated from these poop machines. The grass comes back fast and strong naturaly with a nudge from me and no chemicals just some elbow grease, chicken Poo is the best fertilizer you can get. My meaties are raised in a very large heavy metal, secure tractor I can move around with my truck or tractor, when I move it once every other day to a new spot I lay in a fresh bale of wheat straw hay which still has allot of seed heads in it, I don't use a feeder, I broadcast 2 day's worth of feed using coffee can's full of feed into the tractor on top of the hay. They then scratch there way to china getting the feed, churning and chopping up all the straw and poop, I repeat this when they get moved again in 2 day's. The big spot left is a fine combination of finely mulched hay poop, dirt, leftover feed.
After they are grown and processed the entire area needs to be reconditioned for next year, so I just lightly work it in with my tractor, within a few months the grass comes back super strong with thick green durable pasture type grasses. This area is maybe only 2000sq' X 2000sq' on a level knoll, this patch can raise 2 batches of 25-50 birds a year. This let's the birds live an active life of moving around and digging and finding their food, and it works for many reasons, #1 being they stay clean. I hate the sight of a bunch of these meat birds cramped into a small confined space laying around in their own poop and being lazy and nasty looking. How unappetizing is that. When I look at this flock I want to envision wonderful meals of healthy fresh chicken raised cleanly.
Quality of the birds and the meat. Becuase they have move around so much to find their food I rarely experience and losses due to heart failure or weak legs due to uneven early growth. They get plenty of excersize and grown bone first then put on their finishing muscle, this way they grow with more vigor and quality meat. I am not one of those meaty folks who freak out over wrong growth patterns due to the flock owners failure to properly give their birds what the need not what they want. I also am not stuck to any timelines, like the traditional mantra of 6-8wks, I never process that early. they get processed when their ready and because of the way they are rasied I can get a bigger carcass weight because they are active longer, so carcass weights of 5-7lbs and 7-9lbs is the norm not the exception with the meat quality being very good to exceptional. This normally takes around 10-12 weeks with no increase in feed cost, becuase feed is administered slowly over a longer period of time, not fast hot and heavy with unhealthy weight patterns that cause losses to do slovenly feeding habits.
So in the end my meaties take a tad longer to raise to table weight with no additional cost, they are much more healthy and vigirous and the meat taste better with better texture. They are clean, fat & sassy, just exactly what you want. Anyway that is how I do mine, yeah it's simple and may take a little more thought and effort, but then again I ain't one of those lazy chicken farmers...... I don't mind a little sweat on my brow to give my family a good meal. Processing these birds will come later when we breach that sensitive topic LOL.
AL
Like button!
I also wait until my birds are big, about a dressed weight of 6-7 for a pullet, 7-8 for a cockerel. I have a batch or 12 right now that I've been just processing one or two at a time right now, just as we need them instead of having one or two long, hard processing days and this way I don't even need to freeze the meat. It's actually two batches of six. I have one big one that I can't wait to get a fish scale on. He's a monster! The other day it was wet and sloppy and I noticed he was getting ready to leave the coop. I've been meaning to add some traction slats but right now I just have a piece of plywood serving as the ramp. This fat boy stood sideways like a snowboarder or surfer and slid all the way down. I could just imagine him doing that to some Beach Boys song!
Raising meaties is what I think seperates real chicken flock owners fron the 6 hen groupies. I try to raise 50-75 meaties a year but in the last 2 years I have just decided to raise more of my pure Cornish LF and butcher all the culls at a decent weight. When I was ordering meaties to raise for the freezer, it was important to have a plan that I could use over & over again yr after yr on the same stretch of pasture. We have very poor pasture here in SW Ok, a downside of the dust bowl of the 30's, so the grass is mainly clump & bermuda grass mixure that must be conditioned yearly to come back. This is really pretty simple after I am done for the year with raising all that I need I simply use my tractor to work in all of the leftover material that was generated from these poop machines. The grass comes back fast and strong naturaly with a nudge from me and no chemicals just some elbow grease, chicken Poo is the best fertilizer you can get. My meaties are raised in a very large heavy metal, secure tractor I can move around with my truck or tractor, when I move it once every other day to a new spot I lay in a fresh bale of wheat straw hay which still has allot of seed heads in it, I don't use a feeder, I broadcast 2 day's worth of feed using coffee can's full of feed into the tractor on top of the hay. They then scratch there way to china getting the feed, churning and chopping up all the straw and poop, I repeat this when they get moved again in 2 day's. The big spot left is a fine combination of finely mulched hay poop, dirt, leftover feed.
After they are grown and processed the entire area needs to be reconditioned for next year, so I just lightly work it in with my tractor, within a few months the grass comes back super strong with thick green durable pasture type grasses. This area is maybe only 2000sq' X 2000sq' on a level knoll, this patch can raise 2 batches of 25-50 birds a year. This let's the birds live an active life of moving around and digging and finding their food, and it works for many reasons, #1 being they stay clean. I hate the sight of a bunch of these meat birds cramped into a small confined space laying around in their own poop and being lazy and nasty looking. How unappetizing is that. When I look at this flock I want to envision wonderful meals of healthy fresh chicken raised cleanly.
Quality of the birds and the meat. Becuase they have move around so much to find their food I rarely experience and losses due to heart failure or weak legs due to uneven early growth. They get plenty of excersize and grown bone first then put on their finishing muscle, this way they grow with more vigor and quality meat. I am not one of those meaty folks who freak out over wrong growth patterns due to the flock owners failure to properly give their birds what the need not what they want. I also am not stuck to any timelines, like the traditional mantra of 6-8wks, I never process that early. they get processed when their ready and because of the way they are rasied I can get a bigger carcass weight because they are active longer, so carcass weights of 5-7lbs and 7-9lbs is the norm not the exception with the meat quality being very good to exceptional. This normally takes around 10-12 weeks with no increase in feed cost, becuase feed is administered slowly over a longer period of time, not fast hot and heavy with unhealthy weight patterns that cause losses to do slovenly feeding habits.
So in the end my meaties take a tad longer to raise to table weight with no additional cost, they are much more healthy and vigirous and the meat taste better with better texture. They are clean, fat & sassy, just exactly what you want. Anyway that is how I do mine, yeah it's simple and may take a little more thought and effort, but then again I ain't one of those lazy chicken farmers...... I don't mind a little sweat on my brow to give my family a good meal. Processing these birds will come later when we breach that sensitive topic LOL.
AL
Like button!
I also wait until my birds are big, about a dressed weight of 6-7 for a pullet, 7-8 for a cockerel. I have a batch or 12 right now that I've been just processing one or two at a time right now, just as we need them instead of having one or two long, hard processing days and this way I don't even need to freeze the meat. It's actually two batches of six. I have one big one that I can't wait to get a fish scale on. He's a monster! The other day it was wet and sloppy and I noticed he was getting ready to leave the coop. I've been meaning to add some traction slats but right now I just have a piece of plywood serving as the ramp. This fat boy stood sideways like a snowboarder or surfer and slid all the way down. I could just imagine him doing that to some Beach Boys song!
Question - do you wash your eggs? Store in fridge or on the counter?
I wash right before using them if they're dirty and I also wash right before doing a batch of boiled eggs in my little machine because the thing pokes a hole in one end. Don't like the idea of poopy water entering the egg.
Europe and All other countries I've visited keep their eggs on the outer and poop is brushed off. Not sure what they do about stains, perhaps those eggs don't get sold.
I don't mind not washing eggs, in fact I believe it makes sense. However, after cracking my eggs I immediately wash my hands before touching anything else since I don't want to spread chicken poop cooties onto the rest of the food I'm preparing.
Any input, OT?
I wash right before using them if they're dirty and I also wash right before doing a batch of boiled eggs in my little machine because the thing pokes a hole in one end. Don't like the idea of poopy water entering the egg.
Europe and All other countries I've visited keep their eggs on the outer and poop is brushed off. Not sure what they do about stains, perhaps those eggs don't get sold.
I don't mind not washing eggs, in fact I believe it makes sense. However, after cracking my eggs I immediately wash my hands before touching anything else since I don't want to spread chicken poop cooties onto the rest of the food I'm preparing.
Any input, OT?
Quote:
I don't wash my eggs, rarely have a dirty one as I keep fresh pine shavings in the nest boxes. I keep mine on the kitchen counter and rarely go over two weeks with the same eggs in the basket.
I don't wash my eggs, rarely have a dirty one as I keep fresh pine shavings in the nest boxes. I keep mine on the kitchen counter and rarely go over two weeks with the same eggs in the basket.
I am absolutely loving this thread!! I've had my chickens for going on 3 years in the spring and I am gaining a whole new perspective (and attitude) towards the whole thing! I have a BIG question for the OT's...
I hatch chicks out from Jan 1 (have eggs in the bator now) until sometime in July when it gets too hot for the incubator to run.. Unfortunately, our house is pretty beat up and we can't keep the temp from fluctuating throughout the year (no central heat/air)... Most chicks get sold off to cover feed and misc costs of the flock but I do keep some for myself just to keep a younger group at all times...
I've been wanting to process my own chickens but am scared to death to do it.. Not because of reasons you may think... We live on 3/4 of an acre in a small sub division of the country.. Our land is not fenced and although we don't have major predators around our house, we do have a group of loose dogs... Honestly, we cannot afford to fence in the back yard (about 2/3 of the lot) at the moment but I told my husband that I will be culling and processing ALL roosters from the next batch of chicks I hatch and keep!
*HOW* would you suggest I do it? My biggest fear is that the dogs will get the smell of blood and try to attack my flock... They are in pens/coops and are not free ranged but the dogs have already proven to me that they can go THROUGH the fence if they really want to.. We lost a rabbit that way.. Dog pulled the poor thing straight through 2x4 welded wire...
The ONLY solution I can come up with is to dig a hole and place a board inside to hang the chicken from (either in a cone or by tying the feet) and then once I was done with them all, cover the hole back up... I know it's going to be a lot more work that way but I absolutely refuse to break a chickens neck after I culled a 3-4 month old cockeral and I ended up burying two parts of him instead of one!
Any suggestions?
Goddess
I hatch chicks out from Jan 1 (have eggs in the bator now) until sometime in July when it gets too hot for the incubator to run.. Unfortunately, our house is pretty beat up and we can't keep the temp from fluctuating throughout the year (no central heat/air)... Most chicks get sold off to cover feed and misc costs of the flock but I do keep some for myself just to keep a younger group at all times...
I've been wanting to process my own chickens but am scared to death to do it.. Not because of reasons you may think... We live on 3/4 of an acre in a small sub division of the country.. Our land is not fenced and although we don't have major predators around our house, we do have a group of loose dogs... Honestly, we cannot afford to fence in the back yard (about 2/3 of the lot) at the moment but I told my husband that I will be culling and processing ALL roosters from the next batch of chicks I hatch and keep!
*HOW* would you suggest I do it? My biggest fear is that the dogs will get the smell of blood and try to attack my flock... They are in pens/coops and are not free ranged but the dogs have already proven to me that they can go THROUGH the fence if they really want to.. We lost a rabbit that way.. Dog pulled the poor thing straight through 2x4 welded wire...
The ONLY solution I can come up with is to dig a hole and place a board inside to hang the chicken from (either in a cone or by tying the feet) and then once I was done with them all, cover the hole back up... I know it's going to be a lot more work that way but I absolutely refuse to break a chickens neck after I culled a 3-4 month old cockeral and I ended up burying two parts of him instead of one!
Any suggestions?
Goddess
x2! Don't know what model year you are, (I'm a '68 myself) but I do believe it is a dying art...
Quote:
Times a million! I've noticed that as well since reading this thread. I truly believe mine is the last generation of decent grammar.
ETA: I'm not of the older generation this thread is geared towards but I am relieved to read things that can actually be read.
edited spelling
Quote:
Times a million! I've noticed that as well since reading this thread. I truly believe mine is the last generation of decent grammar.
ETA: I'm not of the older generation this thread is geared towards but I am relieved to read things that can actually be read.
edited spelling
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[[[[[........I should wait until spring to get more hens .............. It was suggested I get older birds to integrate into the group.....]]]]]
Since you are in Georgia, what I would do would be to buy sexed pullet chicks right now. Once they are feathered, they can go outside. In winter, I would do it in two steps. Maybe 5 or so days of outside during the day and back under the brooder at night before they are moved outside full time. But in your area, once they are fully feathered, they should not have any problem with being outside in the winter.
If you get chicks now, they will start laying in late spring.
I have no recommendations about breed.
Since you are in Georgia, what I would do would be to buy sexed pullet chicks right now. Once they are feathered, they can go outside. In winter, I would do it in two steps. Maybe 5 or so days of outside during the day and back under the brooder at night before they are moved outside full time. But in your area, once they are fully feathered, they should not have any problem with being outside in the winter.
If you get chicks now, they will start laying in late spring.
I have no recommendations about breed.
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